----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Schmidt" <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>
> > ...........That would essentially eliminate most of the bike
> > industry high-end sales of the last 10 years.
> >
> > Would we really be any worse off?
>
> My personal opinion? I have had no other interest when I went looking
> for my first adult bike in 1976 than to buy a high-end bike. And it is
> still the same for me whether it is a bike from the 1890s, 1930s, 40s,
> etc. I guess that makes me shallow...
>
No, no, no.......that's not what I mean. I am not at all against the modern bike offerings. I have many myself, and enjoy them immensely. I am against the deceptive way in which they are marketed, and the over-emphasis on mostly (comparatively) hollow attributes that ends up creating the aforementioned sour image of "lower-end" tubesets, bikes, and components. But I do believe that much of the new bike offerings would not exist without the marketing techniques I describe. Large sales have to be created to justify the manufacturing, and those large sales won't happen without the deceptive marketing. I really believe that much fewer people would see value in the typical current bike offering if they had an honest image of stuff, not one distorted by add campaigns.
Jon Schaer
Columbus, OH